Films you must see or your gay card is revoked

The Wizard of Oz

The Birds

La Grande Illusion

Last Year at Marienbad

All About Eve

Sunset Boulevard

The Bride of Frankenstein

Blue Angel

Some Like it Hot

8 1/2

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane

Mommie Dearest

All that Heaven Allows

Maurice

Valley of the Dolls

The Little Foxes

Mildred Pierce

Mommie Dearest

Sunday Bloody Sunday

How to Marry a Millionaire

A Place in the Sun

My Own Private Idaho

Dolores Claiborne. Six pins!

Dawson’s 50 Load Weekend

William Friedkin's The Boys in the Band (1970) and Robert Aldrich's The Killing of Sister George (1968)

The Other Side of Aspen

Sailor In The Wild

Big Guns

The Pizza Boy...He Delivers

Idol Country

Flashpoint

Powertool

The Freshmen

Frisky Summer

Brothers Should Do It

[quote]r6 Robert Aldrich's The Killing of Sister George (1968)

I was surprised to read that Eileen Atkins originated the Susannah York role on stage.

1) The Women

2) Valley of the Dolls

3) Rosemary’s Baby

4 & 5) Imitation of Life (both versions)

6) A Star is Born (Judy’s version, natch)

7) Grey Gardens

8) Laura

9) The Boys in the Band

10) Brokeback Mountain

Rope

R7 - I just wanted to let you know that I have seen every single one of the movies on your list. Multiple, multiple, multiple times.

Great list!

Clueless Heathers Valley Girl Mean Girl Single White Female Hand that Rocks the Cradle Beaches Call Me By Your Name Moulin Rogue Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert Witches of Eastwick Sunset Boulevard What Ever Happened to Baby Jane Get Real Jawbreaker Cruising

Wings

Carrie

Showgirls

All That Jazz

La Cage Aux Folles

I think The Exorcist is more important than The Birds.

Death Becomes Her

Auntie Mame

Shaving Ryan’s Privates.

Where the Boys Are

Behind The Candelabra

Soapdish.

God's Own Country

Bareback Mountain

Gulp fiction

Can't Stop The Music. Seriously. I'm not a flamboyant gay, but I fucking love this film!

The Women (1939)

A Star is Born (1954)

Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet."

Meet Me in St. Louis

Grease 2, Serial Mom, 9 to 5, Strangers on a Train, Greatest Showman, Blue Lagoon

Female Trouble

HUMORESQUE

R25=Donald Trump.

Wizard of Oz

Auntie Mame

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Showgirls

Moonlight

Mean Girls

Death Becomes Her

the rocky horror picture show

Brokeback mountain

carrie

Written On the Wind

I Was a Male War Bride

Golddiggers of 1933

Humoresque

The Children's Hour

Strangers on a Train

Deliverance

Elephant

Fame

I Confess

These are *not* John Garfield's own hands but look how seamlessly he pretends they *are* his own hands

[quote]Seriously. I'm not a flamboyant gay

The only redeeming feature of the Wizard of Oz are the flying monkeys.

R38- and Miss Gulch - to me she was scarier than the wicked witch 🧙‍♀️ of the west especially the moment when she rode her bicycle.

Sextette

I can't believe I'm the first one to say [bold]Cabaret![/bold]

Torch Song Trilogy

Parting Glances

Xanadu

No one has mentioned "Steel Magnolias?"

Weekend

CMbYN

My Own Private Idaho

Moonlight

Brokeback Mountain

God's Own Country

Milk

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Maurice

Boys Don't Cry

Gen X edition -

Xanadu

9 to 5

Beaches

Moonstruck

Devil Wears Prada

Fatal Attraction

Steel Magnolias

Clueless

Outrageous Fortune

First Wives’ Club

It’s got Fisting, poppers, fucking, and dancing

Cruising

I came out in 1973 at the age of 19.

So OP, I am sorry but my gay card rotted to shreds sometime in the last millennium.

Me ! Mahogany!! The men love me!! The women love me!!

Tu Wong Foo! Or however you spell it. Porky's comes to mind too.

Querelle

Boys in the Band

Making Love

Trick

A Beautiful Thing

Oh yes r48! Especially that meltdown in the speeding car.

Muriel's Wedding.

R15, Auntie Mame should lead this whole pack! Maybe too obscure but I would add Apartment Zero to the list.

As a young gay kid mine were:

Y tu Mama Tambien

Nightmare on Elm St 2

A Beautiful Thing

Clueless

The Mudge Boy

Shortbus

Pricilla, Queen of the Desert

Brokeback Mountain

Sordid Lives

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Apartment Zero is a good addition to the list r53. Hart Bochner is the epitome of dangerous hunk.

LucyMAME

Another vote for The Women.

L'amour, l'amour.

Victor/Victoria

Yentl

All About Eve

Mommie Dearest

Saturday Night Fever

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

The Birdcage

Dressed to Kill

Deathtrap

South Pacific (one of gayest Rodgers & Hammersteins)

Carousel (see big musical number)

Singin' in the Rain

Philadelphia

[quote] No one has mentioned "Steel Magnolias?"

IMO, Steel Magnolias is a chick flick for Gen X and late Boomers.

[quote]r56 LucyMAME

Are you trying to [italic]kill people ? ?

Taxi Zum Clo

Long Time Companion

The Last of Sheila (1973)

Thelma and Louise. I always sympathized with poor Thelma. I would have let young Brad Pitt steal that cash, too.

You're on the wrong thread, R63.

However, r59, "drink your juice, Shelby" and "blush and bashful" are required references to know.

I disagree.

2001- Dullea and Lockwood are so beautiful. Just the shots of Lockwood running and lying down listening to birthday greetings from his parents are heaven. And HAL is the most evil queen ever.

Thanks senior lesbian, Parting Glances is one of my favorites and should be seen by everyone.

Thank you R44

R65, I’ll add “All gay men are named Mark, Rick, or Steve and all gay men have track lighting.” as one of the most often quoted lines of my twink-hood.

“Are you high, Clairee!” is a stealth favorite from the same film.

All the Barbra Streisand ones!

I was never given a gay card, so I'm not concerned if I meet your criteria of must-see gay films.

R72 oh hunny. Don't you know you have to make your own vision-board type gay card? Get some glitter, a glue fun and markers!

[quote]I was never given a gay card

For reasons that are well-known to you.

“The Red Balloon”

“Heathers”

“Grey Gardens”

But I'm A Cheerleader

Ok, I’ll answer this by breaking it down by two semesters.. As if an uninitiated gay were to take a class on Essential Gay Films.

First semester: Showgirls, Mommie Dearest, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Valley of the Dolls, A Streetcar Named Desire, Female Trouble, Troop Beverly Hills, Madonna: Truth or Dare, All About Eve, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Second semester: Sunset Boulevard, Auntie Mame, Death Becomes Her, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Cruising, The Boys in the Band, Terms of Endearment, Now Voyager, Imitation of Life (Lana version), The Rose/Divine Madness

Extra credit: The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, The Heiress, I’ll Cry Tomorrow, the filmography of Pedro Almodovar, Fox and His Friends, Salo

**Also, the Mae West filmography

Troop Beverly Hills?

Phyllis Nefler?

The sandpiper a truly stunning movie to look at. A soapy melodrama with a luscious looking liz Taylor while still quite beautiful.

After one watches Sandpiper, they owe themselves to watch Boom! right after

Single White Female

Breaking away

Marathon Man

For gays preferring more obscure films:

Liz Taylor in X, Y, and Zee with the line "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a shit."

It's a retread of WAofVW but who cares. She's vulgar and loud and isn't above a lesbian set-to with the woman (Susannah York) who is trying to steal her husband (Michael Caine).

Dolores Claiborne

The Celluloid Closet (1995)

Oh, yeah. Now I feel stupid for not saying The Celluloid Closet.

You can't just say Celluloid Closet. You have to sing Celluloid Closet while dancing and with jazz hands.

This book was written 20 years ago - was a decent discussion of various films. Some of the more "obvious" films were not necessarily included, it was more about the gay gaze in various films.

The Wizard Of Oz

Showgirls

Mommie Dearest

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane

All About Eve

Mildred Pierce

Rosemary's Baby

Valley Of The Dolls

Grease

Imitation Of Life (1959)

Imitation of Life?

Myra Breckinridge

R84 I'll raise your Liz and Dick suggestion with Boom!

I’ve tried Boom! I just can’t seem to get into it.

Secret Ceremony

Parrish

Susan Slade

The Carpetbaggers

The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (1961)

The Servant (1963) from the director of Boom! and Secret Ceremony Joseph Losey and his best film.

I think the Go between was his best movie r97 or at least on a par with The Servant.

just for fun, "Reflections in a Golden Eye" once described here at DL as "brilliantly bad."

Victim, starring Dirk Bogarde from 1961 should have been named already. First main stream movie centered on a gay man being blackmailed, it's mostly sympathetic and doesn't end in his suicide or death.